Word: sequist
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Dates: during 2008-2008
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...Furthermore, at least the initial patient-doctor interaction appeared to have been similar for all patients: rates of testing for blood-sugar control and for cholesterol, for example, were the same. "That suggests the physicians are implementing standard treatment plans," says Thomas Sequist, lead author of the study and an internist at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. It's only later, when it comes to treatment and, especially, outcomes, that a disparity is evident...
...Sequist, for his part, has a hunch. He doesn't think most doctors discriminate at all. "I feel like the issue may more be that the doctors are treating all the patients the same - and if you treat all the patients the same you won't get the same outcomes because patients don't face the same challenges," he says. "We're not tailoring our counseling to the needs of our patients...
...That's why Sequist did a follow-up study with the same group of physicians, asking whether they thought racial disparities were a problem in diabetes care. About 90% said there's a problem in the U.S. nationally, but less than half of that number believed the problem affects their own practices. Now, Sequist is giving those doctors reports on their treatment performance based on the race of the patient. He's also experimenting with what he calls "cultural competency training": lessons designed to help doctors recognize when patients may not share the same assumed health conditions, or when patients...
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